


Lavish in Love

by TenSpencerRiedPlease



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, BAMF T'Challa (Marvel), Consent Issues, Dom T'Challa, Dom/sub, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective T'Challa (Marvel), Sub Tony Stark, Sweet T'Challa (Marvel), T'Challa Is A Good Man, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has Issues, i might do more of this though, more implied kink than actual kink, not with the pairing though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:12:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9179017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenSpencerRiedPlease/pseuds/TenSpencerRiedPlease
Summary: Tony isn’t exactly well known for his obedience and ability to take orders- actually he’s straight up known to be the exact opposite of that. Doms, in Tony’s experience, were looking for sex dolls instead of subs and he was not going to be anyone’s toy thank you. His Dom either respected him or they could fuck off.T'Challa was not fond of the way near anyone treated subs because it was offensive to expect someone to give you their all as if you have earned it simply through existing in a certain orientation. No, he preferred his subs to submit to him because they wanted to, not because it was expected. That made the submission worth having.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I had kicking around in the brain so I decided to write it out. I might do a second chapter with some actual kink, I might make a series, or I might just leave this as is. It depends. 
> 
> Warnings for consent issues, but not with the pairing to be clear.

Tony isn’t exactly well known for his obedience and ability to take orders- actually he’s straight up known to be the exact opposite of that. Before he put a public claim on his orientation most people assumed he was a Dom, _maybe_ a switch, but most thought he was neutral because he seemed to show no appreciation for any role. That was in large part because he’s not exactly had very good experiences and contrary to popular assumptions about subs they weren’t these demure toys that Doms could do whatever the hell they wanted with. There were some that enjoyed that of course, but they were still living breathing people who had lives, interests, and personalities. Doms, in Tony’s experience, were looking for sex dolls instead of subs and he was not going to be anyone’s toy thank you. His Dom either respected him or they could fuck off.

Over the years that has gotten him into a lot of trouble because most didn’t agree with him- subs were there to serve their Doms right? Wrong, they were there to exist in a symbiotic relationship, not a relationship where it’s all give and no take for the sub. After Howard, Obi, and the handful of people he’s dated he was more than a little done with that crap and sue him if he was a little on edge basically all of the time around Doms. Rhodey was the exception but that was because he understood Tony and he worked with him, no one else did that.

Needless to say Tony didn’t much expect that he had one of those bonds with your supposedly perfect Dom or switch or whomever because he had no real interest in that kind of relationship, at least until he met T’Challa. The last thing he expects is to land on his knees.

*

T’Challa was not certain about his father’s plan to lead Wakanda back into the rest of the world’s politics. Wakanda was well organized and self-sustaining, even with the country’s issues they were still far less chaotic than most of the other countries T’Challa has had to witness politically. He has always been curious though, and willing to travel so his father decided to send him out to make their political ties. T’Challa suspects this is his father’s way of teaching him political responsibility while also indulging his wants outside of his eventual rule over Wakanda but he takes it because it was the best he was going to get. The last thing he expected out of a trip to America was Tony Stark.

He had heard of the plucky sub of course- the media seemed to love him and hate him in equal parts depending on which way that media outlet leaned politically. Some liked to think Stark was a no good sub because, and this was only T’Challa’s interpretation, he had _standards_ for his Doms to meet, and others thought that was a good thing. There were various groups in between that noted that Stark was an ass but his not giving in to ever Dom’s whim was not one of the things that made him an ass. T’Challa had ignored most of the information on him because he was not relevant politically and therefore was not on his radar of people to talk to. That is at least until he finds the man on his knees in front of him, drawn downward as if against his will.

The action makes T’Challa uncomfortable even though he feels that warm feeling his father described to him once, the one you got when you met your match. Tony looks pretty there with his head bowed, position perfect, and T’Challa opens his mouth to tell the poor sub to get up when some twit reaches out to touch him. He would have been happy to handle that on his own but Tony does it for him, smacking the other Dom’s hand away in disgust, “ew, not for you. As _if_ ,” he says, rolling his eyes and getting to his feet. T’Challa’s lips twitch up some as the other Dom gives Tony an offended look.

“He didn’t say you could get up,” the Dom says and Tony snorts.

“The hell does he look like? My goddamn keeper? Uh, no. Lets get that clear now, FYI,” Tony says, the last bit directed towards T’Challa.

“What is ‘FYI’?” he asks. Letters and symbols were used completely differently in America and other nations than they were in Wakanda and he was by no means used to it, especially used in common speech the way Tony just used them.

“For your information,” Tony says, frowning at him a little because the knowledge must be assumed common knowledge here. That was useful to know, if a little too late.

“Lovely. I am T’Challa, Prince of Wakanda and it appears that we need to have a conversation,” he says.

“No we don’t,” Tony says and with that he walks away, leaving T’Challa with somewhat mixed messages.

“You’re just going to _let_ him walk away?” the other Dom says, disapproval written on her features clearly.

T’Challa rolls his eyes, “as apposed to _what_ , pray tell? Forcing him to speak with me? Not only does that violate him on several different levels but it also does not foster healthy connections. If he would like to talk to me he can find me later,” he says and he walks away too, shocked once again by American culture. Most other countries seemed to hold similar opinions regarding subs minus a few of the more progressive countries. Wakanda did not assume that subs owed Doms or anything and switches were far less ignored. Those that fell into a neutral category were still rather ignored, especially legally, but they were working on that.

The first time T’Challa had seen this sort of thing happen he had been more than a little shocked to find some poor sub bowed at their Dom’s feet. In America, and apparently most other countries, this was normal behavior when you found your supposed match and there were swaths of people who believed this action to be biological in nature. They simply could not help bowing down, people would say, and that made T’Challa deeply uncomfortable. If someone could not help but to give in to his every whim he did not want anything to do with them. He wanted a partnership, not a warm doll. Aside from acting as if subs were playthings for Doms, this supposedly biological reaction denied subs agency over their own bodies and it was used to subjugate them legally and culturally. That did not sit well with him.

What was more irksome, though, was the ‘naturalness’ of this. In Wakanda this kind of display would have been unheard of- at least to this extent. There was a feeling that accompanied meeting the person- or people- that were supposed to be your match of course, that was certainly biological, but falling to your knees before your Dom? No. Any Dom worth their salt at least made an effort to prove they were a decent Dom before they got a reaction like that. And the sub proved their worth in turn. So the first time T’Challa encountered this when he was enrolled in Oxford he had been shocked, and even more shocked by the blasé reactions of his peers. Now he questioned just how biological that reaction was versus how conditioned a sub was to drop to their knees when they felt that feeling. Either way he had no interest in someone who thought they were built to serve him with no regards to themselves- there was a time and place for that kind of thing. Not that he was much interested in a Master Slave relationship either, but the dynamic was fine for those who were.

The rest of his night included people asking annoyingly invasive questions about Tony, whom he had no problem with regardless of his attitude and walking away. That was his choice and he was more than entitled to that but the others at the party did not seem to agree. A firm hand, they said, would surely result in his sub learning his proper place. This was code for beating a sub into submission, something he was rather offended by but he says nothing at the moment. T’Challa was not that kind of Dom, he preferred things a little more… subtle than that, and he had little desire to hit anyone self defense notwithstanding. There was nothing wrong with that in the proper context, but in the context these people were providing they were all but telling him to _force_ Tony to be his. That made him feel more sick than anything.

*

“Rhodey, I’m in a situation,” Tony says into his phone. He didn’t even know what time it was to Rhodey at the moment but he needed some advice or something. Jesus _Christ_ he didn’t even know _why_ he dropped to his knees, that wasn’t exactly normal for him but then people said it was biological and that he couldn’t help it so whatever. He rejected that still, even after doing it, because he was not biologically designed to be someone’s living doll unless he damn well wanted to be a living doll. Which he didn’t.

“Is it worse than that time you tried to drink soap?” Rhodey asks and Tony sighs.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you Rhodes?” It was _one_ time by accident; there was no need to bring it up every time they talked.

“Dude, you almost drank _soap_ , that’s hilarious! So no you’re never going to live that down. But to get to the point here, what’s going on? You sound a little panicked,” Rhodey says.

“I uh, met my Dom earlier and I sort of freaked out,” he admits slowly.

“Define ‘freaked out’ for me, because experience tells me you could have done something as simple as rolling your eyes or something as drastic as digitally ruining someone’s life. Please tell me it was not the latter,” Rhodey says. That was one time too and that asshole deserved it but Tony doesn’t say anything about it.

“Well, um… I got that feeling and for some stupid reason kneeled and then this asshole tried to touch me- not the one I was kneeling for mind you- and I smacked her hand away and essentially told her to fuck off and then. And _then_ Rhodey, I stand up because why the hell am I on the floor anyways and the guy is the _Prince of Wakanda_ and he’s like ‘we need to talk’ and I was like fuck that, no we don’t and I left so now I’m standing on a porch outside this stupid party getting dirty looks for snubbing a legit prince. Please give me advice, I’ll love you,” he says.

“You need to talk to him,” Rhodey says entirely unhelpfully.

“No, different advice,” Tony says.

“Fine, avoid him forever and continue on with your life,” Rhodey tells him.

“That’s more like it, thanks man, I knew I had the right idea when-”

“Anthony Edward Stark get your ass over to the damn prince and make a freaking date because running from your problems is how you make bad decisions like trying to drink soap. So go and deal with your problems like a grown goddamn man,” Rhodey says in a firm tone that Tony knew he wasn’t supposed to argue with but that wasn’t what he wanted to hear so he was totally going to argue with Rhodey about it.

“No, what the hell do I owe this guy? Nothing in my completely not biased opinion so why should I have to talk to him?” he asks.

“So that you can tell him that and _then_ you can go about living your life like a normal human being and so can he. Boom, problem solved. When I told you to book a date I didn’t mean you needed to make a relationship, I meant that you need to at least tell him what’s going on so you two are on the same page. Can I go back to bed now? It’s like four A.M here,” Rhodey says.

Shit, of course it was ass o’clock in the morning for Rhodey on… whatever base he was on right now. It was late for Tony let alone Rhodey. “Yeah, yeah honey bear, I’ll talk to you later when I don’t have to deal with this crap,” he mumbles, giving Rhodey a proper good bye before hanging up.

For a long moment he does nothing before he finally gets himself together and walks back into the party. The first five people he runs into tell him that he’s rude and horrible and he rolls his eyes at them because he didn’t give a shit what they thought of him and his actions. When he reaches T’Challa though, the person he is talking to spots him first and wrinkles his nose. “You are an awful submissive, lord even knows how you ended up with a mate at all,” he says in a rather cutting tone. Tony’s eyebrows shoot up and he opens his mouth to respond but T’Challa speaks first.

“He is not a horrible submissive,” he says in a clear, commanding tone that immediately draws a hush over the entire room. _Damn_. “I have _had it_ with people here explaining to me that Tony needs some sort of behavior modification for exercising what I assumed were basic human rights by walking away from me. He does _not_ need a firm hand, he does _not_ need guidance, and he does _not_ need me to _force_ him to submit to me, _you_ all need a lesson in healthy relationships because none of you could possibly have one! Now if you can all stop _berating_ the man for walking away from me when he is within his rights to do so simply because you think he should kneel at my feet and cater to my every whim I would greatly appreciate it. I do not need your unsolicited and frankly terrible relationship advice,” he snarls at the now shocked crowd.

“You free for breakfast tomorrow?” Tony asks.

*

T’Challa had been more than a little surprised by Tony’s reappearance and subsequent request for breakfast but he was more than happy to indulge him to see where this would go. Or not go considering his initial reaction. Tony ends up showing up twenty minutes late with bedhead wearing purple sunglasses and T’Challa raises an eyebrow as he sits down. “Get used to it,” Tony says in way of an actual greeting or an apology. Hmm.

“Good morning to you too,” he says and Tony at least has the decency to look somewhat cowed.

“Sorry I was late, my business partner called because the Board is a bunch of fucknuggets who decided that I needed to be present in today’s meeting. Like I was going to show up before I even had a real thing going on but whatever. Anyways, they argued with me for like twenty minutes until I finally hung up and decided to reroute their calls to JARVIS so he can deal with them,” Tony says, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated way.

“Jarvis?” he asks.

“My AI. Artificial intelligence,” he clarifies.

“I am aware of what an AI is,” T’Challa says in an annoyed tone. It happened in certain areas more than others, but people liked to make rude assumptions about his intelligence and it annoyed him. Wakanda has a fantastic education system and he went to _Oxford_ if people cared to Google a school they found credible.

“Oh, right, the FYI thing went over your head last night so I figured the AI thing might confuse you. Apparently not…” Tony mumbles awkwardly.

“Ah, well that makes sense. Sorry, I did not mean to be rude but people make some very odd assumptions about what I know and do not know and I dislike the assumption that I am stupid. I think that is because I am African but I am not entirely certain.” He has heard plenty about racism in America but he has never really experienced racism- he lived in a country of brown people, they did not care that he was also brown. In Europe he noticed that he was treated differently but he mostly ignored it in favor of studying.

“Probably. My best friend Rhodey is black and you wouldn’t believe the weird shit people say to him. One time he got told to go back to his own country, which was weird because he was born in Chicago and we hadn’t left America so. Whatever, he’s a top ranking military officer now and that guy probably hasn’t left his bar stool so Rhodey is winning. Anyways, none of this is relevant and I’m in favor of getting to the point at hand. I’m a shitty sub and everyone knows it, if you have any interest in someone who will undoubtedly do the opposite of what you say always than I’m your guy, if not then look elsewhere,” Tony says bluntly. Well, that was certainly forward.

“I am not certain what I want because I do not know anything about you other than the very obvious um… what is it you Americans say… oh of course I forget it now. The thing on your shoulder, you have one. A large one and given the reactions you got from people at that party last night I can see why. My culture treats subs completely differently than America does and frankly last night was shocking to me by my standards. It was clearly normal by your cultural standards,” he says. What a horrifying thought, he almost wanted to gather all of America’s subs up and ship them to Wakanda where people would actually care about their autonomy.

“A chip on my shoulder?” Tony asks, frowning.

T’Challa snaps his fingers, “yes, one of those! According to my brief research of your name you are rather known for your brash attitude.” That put it lightly, Tony Stark was well known for doing whatever the hell he felt like whenever the hell he felt like it. Out of curiosity he watched a few videos and speaking his mind was a nice way of putting Tony’s attitude, most of the time he was downright rude but interestingly he was not cruel about it. For the most part he simply pointed out obvious truths in very harsh ways and he was not willing to compromise on his beliefs much unless he got indisputable evidence that he was wrong. Which was how he ended up selling clean energy products in place of weapons.

“Yeah, and it’s not going anywhere,” Tony says immediately in his own defense.

T’Challa shrugs, “I did not expect it to.” Tony’s attitude was reactionary certainly, but it was also part of who he was and T’Challa saw no point in erasing his subs personality to create some other person that he would rather have instead- if he wanted that he would find a person who matched his wants and needs. The purpose of this sort of relationship was to work with one another until you found something you both wanted, which did require training and compromise, but that did not mean erasing an entire person’s personality. Tony, though, looks surprised at this and it is clear that he does not know where to go from here.

“What?” he asks eventually, blinking owlishly.

T’Challa leans forward, “I said I did not expect your attitude to go anywhere. I am not interested in controlling your personality and personhood, that is far too much work,” he says honestly.

“Too much work?” Tony parrots, frowning again.

“Yes, too much work. I spend all day tailoring everything I say and do because it reflects on my country and myself; I do not have any desire to keep up such pretenses at home. I like things more relaxed and structured completely differently. I did try my hand at that kind of twenty-four seven extreme dynamic but honestly I found my subs presence invasive and annoying. Sometimes a man just wants to make his eggs in peace without his sub attempting to serve his every whim. I like to remain my own independence.” Ororo quickly grew bored of it too because her own independence was limited as well and she was not fond of his controlling her every move. They ended that arrangement quickly with no hard feelings- that kind of lifestyle simply wasn’t for them and she has moved on to some large European man named after a Norse god. T’Challa could not remember his name but the man was basically a giant puppy and they seemed to work well with each other.

“Your independence?” Tony asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Have you ever had a person cater to your every whim and need? I can assure you that you lose as much of your independence as they do because you are tied together in regards to near everything you do. Some people like it and find that kind of presence in their life comforting, I did not. Actually I despised it. So if that was the kind of dynamic you were expecting out of me you can safely drop that assumption because I like my peace and quiet and sometimes I do not want my sub around. I assume you also like your independence?” he asks though he was certain that did not need to be a question.

“Yeah. Yeah I like my independence,” Tony says.

*

Tony had no fucking clue what to think of T’Challa because the man was a freaking enigma. It wasn’t like he didn’t try his damndest to press the prince’s buttons, he did and he was usually good at this kind of thing but T’Challa was unflappable or something. He wasn’t sure if that should make him nervous or if he should just take it as is. Everyone had limits and he liked to find them all early, but T’Challa didn’t seem to care very much about his bad attitude, instead he pretty much ignored Tony’s rudeness.

“Why are you complaining? You’re an asshole, take what you can get,” Natasha tells him. She skewers a piece of sushi with her chopsticks and dips it in her soy sauce only to lose it in the dish. After a long recon mission she finally manages to fish the thing out and stick it in her mouth, proving effectively that she would die anywhere that primarily used chopsticks to eat food.

“Thanks Nat, real damn nice to know how much you like me,” he mumbles. He, at least, knows how to properly use his freaking chopsticks and Natasha glares at him as he effortlessly places the sushi in his mouth.

“I’m just saying, I can’t help that you’re the worst sub ever. Seriously, biology really messed up with you. You should have been one of those neutral people,” she says. He rolls his eyes at her because she’s never been good at advice and he didn’t even know why he was here. “Okay fine, have you talked kink yet at least? That should tell you how far you should run if you should run,” she says.

“No. Wakanda does a ‘getting to know you’ period before that kind of thing. Honestly I would have preferred jumping right in because then at least I’d know what to expect but now I have to get to know him as a person and stuff.” That was just going to make things sticky when this all went to hell in a hand basket because he actually kind of liked T’Challa. Actually he really liked T’Challa, he was sharp, witty, interesting, and smart enough to keep up with Tony’s science talk. Not may people were that smart and Rhodey wasn’t home often so it was nice to have someone else to talk about his projects with. He tried Nat once but she almost blew herself up and he never let her back into the lab again.

“Ohh, you have to make real human connections, scary,” Natasha says in a mocking tone. Tony purposefully knocks over her soy sauce onto the skirt Pepper bought her for their anniversary to be an asshole.

*

He can tell that Tony is on edge- it seemed to have the unfortunate reaction of making his behavior worse for a time. But he eventually seemed to figure out that he was not going to get whatever reaction he was looking for and _then_ he learned a few things about Tony outside of his fantastic ability to be an asshole. First, Tony was far smarter than he led people to believe. People liked to paint him as an annoying party boy but T’Challa has seen his designs and hear him speak far more genuinely than most media outlets- there was far more to him than what he was given credit for. The party boy persona seemed to be of use to him though because people tended to underestimate him, and if the did not underestimate him due to his partying habits they were certain that his submissive status made him a weak opponent. The fact that Tony was a billionaire seemed to fly over these people’s heads.

He also learns that Tony was very, _very_ good at finding inconsistencies in what people say. Actually he seemed to watch for it, not that he found anything on T’Challa’s end, but he was very good at pointing out what other politicians were saying. It was plenty useful to T’Challa, who probably did not pay attention as much as he should because it was the same damn thing with all of them. He disliked diplomacy and politics but there were things that needed to be done. Tony was good at picking up on his discomfort too, noting almost to the second when his body language changed and reacting to it consciously and subconsciously. That made T’Challa wonder why, exactly, he was so attuned to his clear displeasure or annoyance when he had no real sense of any other emotion unless he explicitly stated how he was feeling.

Regardless of his faults, and there were many; he rather enjoyed Tony’s company though. Once he realized that T’Challa hadn’t been lying about wanting to control his every move he relaxed a little and offered T’Challa small bits of information about himself. Like his love for peanut butter even though he hadn’t tried it until he was in college- a side effect of his being rich upbringing. His parents hadn’t wanted him to eat anything but organic foods, which he did not stick to at all now. He also treated his technology like he treated people and T’Challa found that odd, but Tony appeared to love his work more than he loved most living things. He was also a cat person thankfully, if he was a dog person T’Challa would have had to leave him. Cats were too important to him to get a _dog_. His cats would not get along with a _dog_.

“My parents never let me have pets. Probably because Howard was a fucking psychopath,” Tony mumbles, rolling his eyes and taking the carton of rice from T’Challa. Tony doesn’t hesitate before eating the rice and T’Challa smiles to himself. “What? Is my petless life pleasing to you?” Tony asks.

“No, of course not. I have always had cats though; I could not imagine my life without them. That would be a sad existence,” he says. Other people did not seem fond of cats, Americans were in that group, but he could not imagine why. They claimed that cats were heartless and self-serving but that only meant that they have never had a cat truly love them and that was their problem, not the cats. Besides, dogs were lovely in pictures but they slobbered, their tails knocked everything over, and they barreled through small children. And when T’Challa was a child a dog nearly _ate_ him. Needless to say he did not find himself fond of the animals after that.

“I like cats but I’ve never gotten one of my own. Maybe I should, Dummy needs some company when I’m out. There’s only a fifty percent chance the cat will hate the bots.”

“I think that is more like a seventy percent chance,” T’Challa says, “cats do not like things that move suddenly and do not have skin.”

“Shit, cats don’t like things that wait to move and _do_ have skin. They hated Howard, every cat he ever saw came up to him just to bite him or scratch him. They liked my mother and I just fine but Howard? Never met a cat who didn’t want him to suffer,” Tony says, snickering. Another unfortunate thing that he learned about Tony, his father was abusive and he had no idea to what extent Howard had abused his son. He certainly was not about to ask Tony to relive the experience.

“In my culture cats are extensions of our panther god Bast. If they do not like you you are a bad person and you are shunned. It appears they were right about Howard,” he says.

Tony starts laughing unexpectedly, “you seriously sun people if cats don’t like them?” he asks.

“Well… we are not _supposed_ to do that after that one time… but we do. To be fair the cats are never wrong, but I think that only works in a country that loves them. Cats are not fond of people here but that is because they are underappreciated by the masses. And they still like me,” he says proudly. It took him some time to get the strays to come to him but he managed every time and they were always happy by the time they left.

“That one time?” Tony asks, grinning at him. This was the most relaxed he has ever seen Tony and he is happy to have gained enough trust to earn a genuine smile out of Tony. He got the feeling that this was not something that happened often with the plucky sub.

“We do not talk about that one time,” he says.

*

Things sort of start slow, Tony supposes. First T’Challa starts brining food around, then small gifts, then trinkets from Wakanda, and then finally a list. Before things were easy as much as Tony hated to admit it. T’Challa didn’t care about his bad attitude and when he expressed no desire to literally beat the attitude out of him Tony stopped pressing so hard. That had been when the trinkets started, though they only seemed to show up sometimes at first. It took awhile for Tony to catch on to the pattern- T’Challa only sent him gifts when he didn’t have an attitude. He was doing a piss poor job at conditioning Tony but he did feel _slightly_ less inclined to resist everything around him because he liked the little cat figurines from Wakanda.

The food was also nice and Tony knew that T’Challa listened because the foods were always things he expressly stated he liked. Usually it was a far healthier version than what he’d feed to himself, but it was foods he liked nonetheless. And the little gifts were evidence that T’Challa listened too, they were always some reference to a conversation they had, or something he said he liked, or something related to T’Challa’s interests. He also discovers that Wakandan soap operas were weirdly addicting even with the annoying subtitles. T’Challa hated them but torturing him with them made them all the more fun to watch.

But then the damn list comes and Tony stares at it for a solid two hours before he opens the damn thing. All of that bonding came down to this shit and that made him mad, he _liked_ T’Challa and if their damn kinks didn’t match up he was toast. That was total bullshit. Where the hell else would Tony find a Dom as patient as T’Challa? He’s the only one Tony has met that didn’t give up on him or try to force him into submission at some point. He opens the damn list though because it was best to just know and work with it or cut his losses.

Of course the top thing on T’Challa’s list was a fucking hard limit for him. Of _course_.

*

T’Challa knows right away something on his list frightened Tony off because he is not as subtle as he thinks he is and he stops almost all contact immediately. He does not push, that would only scare Tony off more, but when he travels back to America he leaves the option of him visiting open for Tony to take. He doesn’t expect much of it, Tony seemed to have made up his mind and it didn’t matter how much that hurt him. He could hardly do anything about Tony’s panic but wait to see if Tony might contact him.

The call comes at a fantastic time, T’Challa really loathed working anywhere near Brock Rumlow. The switch made him deeply uncomfortable and so did his egg headed science friend. “Hey um… could you come over?” Tony asks. Tony’s voice sound surprisingly small and distant, completely unlike himself and that sets T’Challa back on edge.

“Of course. Give me an hour,” he says gently, “I will be there soon.” Tony mumbles out a halfhearted goodbye and T’Challa frowns, wondering what exactly it was that spooked Tony to begin with.

When he shows up to the Tower Tony greets him at the door looking like he hadn’t slept in three days or better. “Tony,” T’Challa starts but Tony cuts him off.

“I hate bondage. Too many bad experiences and the thought of being restricted like that makes me want to vomit,” he blurts out.

“Oh, well alright. I do not care much for restrictive bondage anyways, but that can be easily left out. Any other concerns?” he asks.

Tony stares at him with wide eyes for a solid two minutes before he speaks, “ _what_?”

“What what? I am not certain what you are confused about,” he says.

“That’s _it_? Bondage was at the top of your list and just like that it’s gone? What the hell!” Tony says, growing irritated.

“And you are clearly strongly opposed to bondage, how else am I supposed to react?” The question is rhetorical but Tony looks like he has a list of reactions on the tip of his tongue. “If you are going to tell me this is where I am supposed to convince you that you secretly like bondage I am not going to do that. You know you better than I do and I will not convince you to break your limits to make me comfortable or happy. That is unfair and cruel. And if you think this is where I am supposed to walk away from you as your Dom I am not about to throw you out as an entire person and a submissive because you do not like _one_ thing that I am fond of. That is absurd!” He got the idea that this was exactly what Tony has experienced though and that made him rather angry.

Tony looks at the ground, “most Doms would have walked away long before now,” he points out.

“Well in my opinion in America most Doms do not know how to even _be_ Doms. They expect everything all at once all up front but nothing else in life works that way. Steps are required and it is necessary to build some sort of relationship first, you cannot just expect your sub to drop to their knees and be fine with everything you want them to do. That is not a partnership, it is entitlement,” he says harshly. He _still_ got advice on how to ‘deal’ with Tony as if he was a bad sub instead of an abused sub. If people treated him with the same disrespect Tony has received than he would not submit to them either. Submission was a precious thing and it was not to be abused, and Domination was just as precious and it should not be abused either. It was all about working out something that worked for everyone.

Tony continues looking at the ground for a long minute before dropping to his knees at T’Challa’s feet, head bowed and palms up on his knees. T’Challa blinks several times, convinced that he was seeing things before he realizes that he finally, _finally_ broke through to Tony. “Oh,” he says for lack of anything better. Tony leans forward a little, pressing his face into T’Challa’s thigh.

He smiles slowly at first but it grows quickly into a very happy grin, “all that bad advice I have been getting and ignoring and my own suspicions were right all along. You did not need discipline; you needed to be lavished with love. And now I have you freely on your knees and I am the only one to see it because everyone else was too stupid to figure out your complexity,” he says, pride evident in his voice as he pets Tony’s soft, silky hair. “Bunch of fools,” T’Challa says, shaking his head. Tony lets out a small snort but he says nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well alright, this was supposed to involve some actual kink and instead it ended up the story of Tony's erotic ties- sort of. I am incapable of sticking to plans, but I think the dynamic is interesting nonetheless.

Tony was not an easy sub to deal with but T’Challa has concluded that most of his problems were because of other people. If Tony had not left the house in awhile or had not watched some news program most of the time he was fine, but as soon as he was exposed to the outside world everything went wrong. He was far fussier, resistant to near any sort of communication, and lacking in trust to the extreme. T’Challa did not blame Tony for that either, mostly because it hadn’t taken long to figure out that people liked to tell Tony in no uncertain terms that he was a horrible sub, which then prompted him to make that statement true. He could hardly blame the man for being everything everyone constantly told him he should be, that was how he ended up the well-groomed king of his country after all. That did, however, endlessly annoy him. Especially because it led to Tony making stupid and impulsive decisions like the one he was currently attempting to make.

“It was at the top of your list,” Tony points out.

“And it was on your ‘never to do’ list, I think we both know which is more important. Your list,” T’Challa adds when he realizes that no, Tony did _not_ know which list was more important.

“But-” Tony starts but T’Challa cuts him off.

“No, no buts. You are only suggesting bondage because someone probably told you that you are somehow less worthy of being my sub because you do not cater to my every whim. Well I do not _want_ a sub that caters to my every whim; it makes submission feel cheap and manufactured instead of wanted and earned. I have no interest in what your culture deems attractive, in my culture American style submission is boarder line offensive. I like you the way you are, limits and all,” he says firmly. He had no interest in near torturing Tony because some ignorant person told him that to be a proper sub he was to do whatever it was that was expected of him regardless of his own wants, needs, and desires. In a dynamic where that was negotiated fine, but T’Challa had already pointed out that he did not have an interest in that.

“I am not! And I know my feelings better than you do,” Tony snaps, hands on his hips. T’Challa resists the urge to rolls his eyes or otherwise indicate to Tony that he did not agree at least in this situation, but all that would do is make Tony more belligerent.

“Fine, we will try bondage, _after_ you have thought about it for a week. If you still have an interest than I will indulge you,” he says. Tony’s reaction is almost amusing- he goes from looking impressed with himself to confused in about two seconds flat and T’Challa takes pride in it. He should know better than to try arguing with a politician, T’Challa spent all day arguing and negotiating, and he has also spent nearly a year observing Tony’s habits. It was not difficult to figure out how to argue with the plucky sub and have them both win in a way, though Tony has not figured that out yet. Hence his confusion over T’Challa’s decision.

“Why wait a week?” Tony asks. He is smart, at least when he decided to be, and his question is good.

“Because if this actually is a reaction to someone attempting to make you feel inadequate you will drop it, if the interest is genuine we can explore it. Problem solved for everyone,” he says.

“Sneaky bastard,” Tony mumbles but he tucks his tail and goes like T’Challa knew he would. And because Tony was a naturally curious creature he knew that Tony would extensively look into the issue too- he disliked walking into any situation uninformed.

*

Tony doesn’t want to admit that T’Challa was right in his assumptions about feeling inadequate but he was. He could feel himself acting like an asshole too, and he _knew_ that it only reinforced other people’s opinions but he couldn’t _stop_. T’Challa was so open about it too, always working with Tony regardless of how much of an ass he was that week. And of _course_ he would have figured out Tony’s motivations and of _course_ he figured out how to accommodate for his request in a way that did the least amount of damage to the both of them and their relationship. If he were even half as good at politics as he was with Tony than he would be one formidable political opponent.

The one week period was not what Tony had wanted at all because then he’d have to think about things and he didn’t like that idea at all. His intention was to just get over himself and do something nice for T’Challa but as usual T’Challa managed to outsmart him for his own good. But he had a week and Tony wasn’t one to give up so he looks into bondage if for no other reason than to prove that there _was_ an interest, thanks, even if the interest was out of spite now. That did beg the question of _what_ kind of bondage T’Challa was into though and they had never gotten into that.

So after day three Tony decides to suck up his pride and _ask_ instead of what was probably some pretty shoddy guesswork on his part. T’Challa pets his hair as they watch TV, their usual routine after they both got back from work whenever T’Challa was in the country. Tony perches at T’Challa’s side on his knees, head leaning on T’Challa’s thigh and hand wrapped around his ankle. It was a weirdly comforting position usually, but now he was annoyed and stressed about this stupid bondage thing. “Spit it out, Tony,” T’Challa says eventually because he knows Tony very well, even if Tony didn’t like that sometimes.

“I… what kind of bondage are you into, exactly?” he asks somewhat awkwardly.

“I assume your bondage research was more complicated than expected? I knew it would be but you insist on pushing yourself, even if you do not need to. To answer your question though I prefer aesthetic bondage. The goal is not necessarily to restrict you, at least not for me, I simply like the knots and patterns and how they look against my sub’s skin,” he says, combing his fingers through Tony’s hair as he tells him this.

“Oh. Okay,” Tony says for lack of anything better. That hadn’t been what he was expecting.

*

Tony comes back to him a week later looking determined and T’Challa is surprised. He had not expected Tony to follow through with this bondage interest given that he was considerably against the act but the determination on his face would not be there if he was prepared to drop the subject.

“Guess who’s still interested in bondage?” Tony says and T’Challa raises an eyebrow.

“Do not be petty with me,” he says and Tony visibly deflates some, recognizing his place. And Americans kept advising him to use physical force, damn morons. But then America seemed to be a country organized around very physical forms of _doing_ so perhaps they did not recognize the power of words, phrases, and tone of voice. Tony responded to the latter much more than the former- which was likely why he was known as a difficult sub. Clearly no one had figured that out.

“I’m still interested,” Tony says in a more moderated tone.

“Why?” T’Challa asks more for Tony’s benefit than his own. If I were not for Tony’s impulsivity and habit of forcing himself out of his comfort zone in the worst of ways he would not care where the interest came from, but Tony had a bad habit of self destruction and T’Challa has learned to look for it in near everything he did. He has managed to curb some of Tony’s bad habits but he was not always around- he knew that Tony did not stick to the schedule he was supposed to when T’Challa was gone because there was always an adjustment period when he got back. Some might claim that Tony was a bad sub because of it but T’Challa was sure that Tony simply forgot about his schedule when he had more free reign in his lab. He tended to get excited about projects and without someone there to remind him to leave his space he likely did not leave. T’Challa learned not to take that personally.

“Look, I don’t know, I just did some research and I know you won’t hurt me and I did some research on aesthetic bondage. I’m curious,” Tony says, shrugging.

“Alright then,” T’Challa says, convinced that Tony was on board, if leery. He had ideas in how to start though, and it likely would not frighten Tony off.

*

Tony stands there looking like a tit because he was having a bit of trouble comprehending T’Challa’s idea. “I’m sorry, _what_?” he asks, frowning. After T’Challa had agreed to the whole bondage thing he had ended up being called off on some official business elsewhere, leaving Tony to steep in his stupid decision for a month before returning but now he was confused.

“I would like to tie your ties in the morning,” T’Challa says as if that made any sense at all.

“Uh… okay? I don’t see how that’s relevant but okay,” Tony says. That was… far more tame than the kind of weird shit he’s been dreaming up for the last month. Ties didn’t even have anything to do with bondage, he could do that. He hated putting ties on anyways because the fucking things annoyed him. T’Challa gives him one of those looks, the one he got when Tony was clearly missing something. “What? Ties aren’t relevant to bondage, just a fact,” Tony says, shrugging.

“Tony, allowing me to tie _anything_ around your neck is an extreme exercise in trust. Do not underestimate that,” T’Challa says. Tony frowns because he hadn’t really thought of it like that but whatever.

“Well okay. Uh, have at it?” He didn’t know how to do this or even what he was doing here, or even if T’Challa was right about this being an exercise in trust, he was just sort of along for the ride.

For a long moment T’Challa examines him and he must like what he sees because he moves over to Tony’s extensive tie collection. He only had that many ties because people deemed them good gifts when they were horrible gifts. Literally anything but a tie was good with him. Including nothing. T’Challa returns with yellow silk tie Tony has never been fond of but he doesn’t say anything out of curiosity for how this would proceed.

“You are sure about this,” T’Challa says, raising an eyebrow at Tony. He nods and T’Challa carefully drapes the fabric over Tony’s neck. Tony tilts his head back some so T’Challa can see what he’s doing and the action draws a small gasp out of the man. It takes a second for Tony to realize why- the action was submissive by nature and it hadn’t been directed like most of Tony’s submission. Huh, maybe the tie thing was a good choice.

He waits patiently while T’Challa ties the tie, frowning a bit when it takes longer that usual but curious to see the result. When T’Challa finally steps back Tony looks across the room to the mirror and raises an eyebrow, “you didn’t need to do some [fancy](http://agreeordie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/eldredge-knot-gold-300x300.jpeg) shit. How did you even _do_ that?” he asks, frowning at the knot around his neck. It was… really pretty actually, and made the tie significantly less heinous to Tony.

“I am quite good with knots,” T’Challa says, smiling at him. Yeah, so Tony could see. When he gets to work literally everyone who sees him compliments him on the tie, even Pepper and she usually didn’t notice his fashion at all.

*

Despite Tony’s resistance to the idea T’Challa’s ties were a good plan and his skill was impressive. Tony hadn’t even known there were so many ways a person could tie a tie and T’Challa managed to come up with some new [knot](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/91/af/0d/91af0dd362d136bce69d02be15b2fc01.jpg), including some knot with _l[oops](https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7183/14098330153_81f2e81945_b.jpg) _ of all things, and it looked good. T’Challa apparently chose the knots because they were [distinctive](http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Eric-Glennie-Braided-Knot1.jpg), [sleek](https://blueflamemagick.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/tie-merovian-knot1.jpg), [stylish](https://tieatieguide.com/media/2016/06/_3/730x425/pic_1465935610.jpg), and a little [overstated](https://blacklapel.com/thecompass/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/photo.png) like Tony himself was. Tony thought it was sweet that he put any thought into Tony’s ties at all because Tony sure as hell didn’t.

He quickly settles into the routine though, falling into total comfort with T’Challa’s being so close with something that Tony guessed was _technically_ a rope of sorts. It isn’t until weeks later, more fancy tie knots, and a business trip that T’Challa brings up anything else.

“Are you still comfortable with trying something new?” T’Challa asks. He doesn’t need to specify what; they both knew what he meant.

“Surprisingly yeah. I’d prefer not to be heavily restricted movement wise, but I’m curious to see what kind of designs you come up with. I like the ties- so does everyone else actually. I get a lot of compliments these days,” Tony says, grinning.

T’Challa smiles at him, “good, you deserve them. The ties look wonderful on you even if I wish you would wear more purple,” he says. Tony wrinkles his nose as T’Challa’s favorite color; he’s never been fond.

“I wish you would wear more red. It looks better on you than me,” Tony says. It was true- the color looked fantastic against the warm brown of T’Challa’s skin and Tony looked like a fucking Canadian flag with facial hair. When he told T’Challa that he had laughed ridiculously hard, though he insisted that Tony’s pale skin did _not_ make him look like a Canadian flag.

“It suits you though. Red is too… bold for me,” T’Challa says.

“And purple is less flashy?” Tony asks, raising an eyebrow.

“The shades I prefer yes. I like dark purples, not gaudy bright ones that belong in children’s rooms or in the trash. Ugh.” T’Challa makes a face and shakes his head and Tony knew how he felt. Lilac was a sin against humanity. “But back to the subject at hand- are you _sure_ you are comfortable with trying something else with actual rope?” he asks, always conscious of Tony’s wants and needs.

“Yeah T’Challa, I am. I think it’ll be… nice, relaxing even. I like the time you take with my ties in the morning and I want more of it. I’m willing to see if actual ropes will be okay,” Tony says. He’s serious too, which was more than a little surprising to him. But Tony did genuinely like the ties and he was definitely curious about T’Challa’s skill elsewhere. And- and this was key- he knew that if he changed his mind T’Challa would immediately stop. It wasn’t a luxury he really got before but with T’Challa things were considerably different. America could learn a lesson or two from Wakandan Doms in Tony’s absolutely biased opinion.

“I am not certain how I managed to end up with a sub as perfect as you but I am lucky,” T’Challa says, smiling at Tony.

“I am nowhere _near_ perfect,” Tony says. He was probably more flawed than the average flawed person honestly. If anyone was lucky here it was absolutely Tony- normal Doms didn’t put up with his shit like T’Challa did, not matter how bad it got with him. Thankfully for Tony T’Challa seemed to be quite horrified with the state of ‘normal’ Doms in America. Tony thought T’Challa’s methods worked better anyways- he actually felt compelled to listen to T’Challa after all, flawed as hell or no.

“In Wakanda perfection does not look like the unattainable American standard. Perfection is more… finding the kind of flawed that works exactly right for you. You are absolutely perfect in that context,” T’Challa tells him. He gently brushes his fingers along Tony’s cheek and Tony ducks his head, smiling to himself.

“I never stick to that schedule you make me when you leave. I always forget,” he says. JARVIS was no help either- Tony usually told him to screw off in the midst of being absorbed in his work. He knew better that to do that to T’Challa when he was around to kick Tony out of the lab.

T’Challa smiles at him, “I know,” he says.

Tony frowns, confused. “Wait, _what_?” T’Challa only smiles wider, apparently content to keep the knowledge of how that was to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://tenspencerriedplease.tumblr.com/)


End file.
